Folding cot



Nov. 13, 1923.

J. L. MCKELLAR FOLDING COT eet Filed Dec. 16. 2 Sheets-Sh Patented Nov. 13, 1923.

UNITED STATES JUnsoN L. MCKELLAR, OF BROOKLYNNEW YORK, AssIGNon To deseo-THOMPSON Y.. COMPANY, 1No.,or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION or New YORK.

FOLDING Oor.;

' vApplication led ZDecember 16, 1922. Serial No. 607,272.

To all whom z't may concern.' Be it known that I, JUDsON L. MOKELLAR, a citizen of the-United States, anda resident of Brooklyn, in the countyof Kings '5 and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Cots, of which the following is a specilication.

The invention relatesv to improvements in folding cots, and it resides in the novel features andxcombinations of parts hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The present invention embraces certain improvements in the folding cot shown in Letters Patent No. 1,294,925, dated February 18, 1919.

In carrying out, my invention I form the body of the cot in three sections, one being a middle section andtwo being end sections or head and foot frames which may be folded upwardly toward each other, and I equip each of the bed sections with legs and the head and foot sections with foldable head and foot frames or boards and withv means for folding the legs of these sections against lthe body thereof when the sections are turned upwardly into vertical position. The head and foot frames or boards are foldable and connected by links with upwardly projecting 'extensions of the legs for the head and foot sections ofthe bed, and the connections between the head and foot frames or boards and the legsfor the head and foot sections have been specially constructed to overcomecertain disadvantages in prior constructions which my invention lseeks to improve. i 'A The invention will'be lfully understood from the detailed description vhereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, .in which: 1

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a folding cot, in unfolded condition for use, constructed in accordance withand embodying'myinvention; p

Fig. 2 is a top view7 partly brokenaway, of the same;

. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section through a portion of one end of the same, takenon the dotted'line 3--3 of Fig.,1;; I Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section 'of an end portion ofthe same, taken on'the dotted line 4-4 ofFig. 1; f v Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the cot, with a mattress thereon, shown in partly folded condition, the end members of the cot being shown as folded todiiferent angles so as to indicate that said members are independently foldable; i

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the cot shown as' completely folded and with the. two end members latched together;

Fig. 7 vis an end view of the folded cot, taken from theright hand side of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of a portion of oneV end of the bed and illustrates the position the head and foot frames or boards will automatically take when'the bed sec-tions are unfolded outwardly for use, said framethen, by hand, being pulled outwardly atiits upper end to take the position shown in Fig.v

1 to lock the .Connections in rigid relation to one another, and j Fig. 9 is a detailed top view showing the latch for securing the upper ends of the folded Yend members together.

. Iny the drawings 10 'designates the middle 'i section of the cot, and 11, 12, respectively, indicate` the two corresponding end v,frames pivotally secured at their inner ends by rivets 13, 14, respectively, to the side bars 15 of said middle section. For convenience of description the frame 11 may be considered the head frame and the' frame 12 the foot frame, although since `both of said frames are alike in every respect either may be the head frame or foot frame.

T he middle section 10 of the cot comprises the aforesaid side bars 15, which are of angle-iron, tubular legs 16, 17, respectively, at opposite sides lof said section and riveted at their flattened upper ends against the inner faces of said-side bars 15, lower side bars 18, 19,'respectively, connecting the legs 16, 16 and 17, 17 together at opposite sides of said middle section,`transversebars 20 conl necting the legs 16, 17 together' and angular braces 21,connecting the bars 2O with the legs that they connect Thelegs 16 constitute a pair oflegs for .one side of the mid.

dle section 10 and areduplioated by the legs 17 at theiopposite side of said section, and the legsof each pair diverge downwardly and outwardly in their upper portions and then extend downwardly on vertical lines, as shown in Figs. 1, 5 and 6, said'legs thus being spread-apart and affordinga broad support at dle section 10.l The middle section 10 coneach side ofthe cotv for the'midsists of a single rigid frame composed .of the parts hereinbefore identified riveted in fixed relation to one another.

The head frame 11 is composed oflcorrespending anglefiro'n .side bars 22 and an angle iron outer end rail 23 connecting the outer ends of said side bars 22, whose inner ends are pivotally connected to the adjacent ends of the side bars'l by the`^aforesaid rivets 13. The head frame 11 is equipped near its .outer end with supportingilegs24 which are p'ivotally secured by rivets 25 to the side bars 22 and extend'above said bars to form short lever arms 26 'hereinafter referred to. The legs 24 slant rearwardly `and downwardly, asr-shownin Fig. 11, and at their lower portions are pivotally connected by links` 27 with the'v -forwardlegs v16, 17,tlhe forward or outer endsfof said links 27 'being pivotallysecured to the v legs 24 by rivets 28, andthe inner ends of said linksbeing pivotally secured to the' forward legs 16, 117 .by thesame rivets 29 which secure theiforward ends of the lower side bars 18, 19 to said legs.. The legs 24 are also connected-together by a transverse bar 30 riveted at its ends thereto (Figs-2 and 7). 5

The 'head-frame 11 is equipped with a head-board 31 preferably formed ofiaftube whose ends are bent at right angles,v to the transverse'body of the tube tol form side members 32, Vfrom whose lower ends are bent inwardly the right angle arms 33`w'h'i'ch are pivotally secured by rivets34 to 'the' upf standing arms of angle-brackets 35 3) secured by rivets 36 between adjacent portions of the side-bars 22 .and v end rail 23.k T he arms 33 are flattened, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and '4, to closely engage the brackets 35, which project above the side bars 22. At the lower portions of their outer ends, the arms 33 carry laterally projectingheaded studs 3f?, theheads onntbese studs and the adjacent faces of the arms 33 forniing recesses 38 to at tbe proper time receive the edges of'links39, as shown in Figs. 1 land 4, whose forward ends are pi-votally secured byrivets 40 to the arms '33 forwardly of the studs 37 and whose inner ends are v`pivotally secured by rivets 41 with the upper ends of the lever arms 2 6 created bythe upwardk extensions of the legs 24. The-forward orouter ends of the links l39 are bent downwardly where they engage the studs 37, as shown'in Fig. l. If we consider `the bedfinits folded condition shown in Fig. .3, the unfolding of the section"1'1"'by1turnV ingit outwardly and downwardly `from av vertical to a horizontal position, results vin the links27`being forced outwardly at their upper ends `by the pressure of the 'legs 24 `against them, and as the section or frame 11 1sl gradually turned downwardly andeutwardly, the links 27 act to force the legs 24 outwardly and finally vvinto theirposition shown in Fig. `1. The outward turning of the legs y24 results in an inward turning of board orv frame 31 and turn thebody thereof upwardly to the position shown in Fig. 8, said body being then nearly but not quite verticalzj vAno"utward pull, by hand, then on the upper portion of the head board or frame 31 turns the samezl'to,itsifnal-.operative vertical position shownfin Fig. vl1, vthe arms 33 at this timeturningkupwardly andf liftAV ing the outer endso-f the links39 Sto .fa position at which said arms-33 and links 39 .are about in a direct line. The upwardly-turnf ing movementzof the-arms 33 just referred to, causes said arms to carrythe studs37 againsty the links 39j at they outward bends therein and this aids. in aligningthelinks 39 and larms 33. lVhenthe .bed section T111 is in its Voperati-ve position'shown in Figui, it is prevented. from collapsing downwardly-by reason ofthe legs 34 and links 27 and ralso by the alignment of the links 39 and `arms 33,v and at this time, also,1the bed section 11 cannot turn upwardly or be folded upf wardly because'of'the Yalignment of the said links 39 andarms 33, Vsuch alignment lock ing the' legs 2,4 against movement in .either direction. 1 .f

Y ln Arestoring thebed section 'or frame 11 to' its vert-ical posit-ion, I `first gpush1-inwardly` on the upper end-of the 'head-board or frame 31 so as'to turn the-free ends of the arms 33 thereof 'downwardly and cause said arms to turn the outer ends of thelinks 39 downwardly,fthus breaking the'alignmen-t of the links 39 a-nd arms`33, as shown in Fig'. 8, and thereuponl take hold'of the .end rail 23 and turn the frame orseot-ionv llupwardly, and-while the said section yor fra-me is lmoving upwardlyrthe links 27' draw. the legs 24-inwardly to the side bars22, as will be understood on reference toFigs. 5 and, and this movement of the legs 24toward the side vbars22 Vresults -inr'the leverextensions ,26 of saidY legs being turned"outwardlyzand pushing the links 39 outwardly against .the arms 33 of the head-boardf31 and in'thereby causing said headboard to automatically fold inwardly against theymattress 42, 4as shownat-Ithe right hand side of Figs. 5 and; j w The'bed-section 12 is'zd-entical in cons-truction and operation with the bed-sectionrn, and'hence I need no-t"specificall-ydescribe the parts of the section 12 but' will'number said 'parts' correspondingly with. the Elike parts ofthe section 11.adding however that the inner ends-of the links 27 of 'theseetion 412 are' pivotally secured *tol the rear legs 16,

17 by the same rivets43which 'fasten the rear ends of the side barsl18, 19 to said legs.

'The member 31 .of tlie.=bed=section 12;;while the same in every particular as the member 31 of the section 11, except that it is reversed to lit the foot end of the bed or cot, may be termed a foot-board or frame instead of a head-board or frame.

The bed-sections 10, 11, 12 are equipped with a suitable spring fabric 44 in one continuous piece connected to the side bars of said sections by helical springs 45.

After the sections 11, l2 have'both been folded toward each other into vertical position they may be secured together at their upper ends by a latch-bar 46 pivotally secured to the end rail 23 of one section and detachably hooked upon a stud 47 secured to the end rail 23 of the other section, as shown in Fig. 9.

vThe Vhead and foot members 31 are of bell-crank formation and when the bed-sections 11, 12 are to be folded upwardly, said members 31 are ressed inwardly to the position shown in ig. 8, and thereafter said members automatically fold or turn inwardly against the mattress during the up ward movement of said bed-sections to vertical position, this being one of the features accomplished by my invention. lhen the head and foot sections are lowered or turned downwardly, the legs 24 automatically take their operative position and the head and 'toot members 3l automatically take the position indicated in Fig. 8, and thereupon the several parts become locked in rigid relation to one another upon the upper ends of the members 31 being pulled outwardly to elevate the inner ends of the arms 33 thereof and the outer ends of the links 39.

What I claim as mv invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A folding cot or bed comprising a middle bed-sction having rigid supporting legs, end bed-sections having pivoted legs and pivotally secured to the end portions of said middle section and adapted to be turned upwardly into vertical position and downwardly into horizontal position, links connecting said pivoted legs with said rigid legs and foldablev with said pivoted legs, head and foot members of bell-crank type pivotally secured on the outer ends of said end bed-sections, and links pivotally connected with and connecting inwardly extending arms of said head and foot members and the upper ends of said pivoted legs above the pivots thereof and-adapted to lie in substantial alignment with said inwardly extending arms for locking said head and foot members and .the pivoted legs respectively connected with them in rigid relation to eac-h other. y

2. A folding cot or bed comprising a middle bed-section having rigid supporting legs, end bed-sections having pivoted legs and pivotally secured to the end portions of said middle section and adapted to be turned upwardly into vertical position and downwardly into horizontal position, links connecting said pivoted legs with said rigid legs and foldable with said pivoted legs, head and foot members of bell-crank type pivotally secured on the outer` ends of said end bed-sections, and linksV pivotally connected with and connecting inwardly extending arms of said head and foot members and the upper ends of said pivoted legs yabove the pivots thereof and adapted to lie in substantial alignment with said inwardly extending arms for locking said head and foot mem` K bers and the pivoted legs respectively connected with them in rigid relation to each other, and said arms having studs below said linksfor on a final manual outward turning of said head and foot members, engaging and turning said links upwardly at their outer ends and thereby positioning said links in dead-locking relation to said arms and folding legs. l

Signed at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, and State of New York, this 6 day o Dec. A. D. 1922.

JUDsoN L. MOKELLAR. 

